The Rolodex

Rolodex. Did you have one of these? I did. 

I still have mine in a box somewhere, jumbled up with some other old office supplies. It’s still full of the contacts I had, and still have, and now have entered into vCards in my computer and contact app. 

I’m using the Rolodex as a metaphor for how some nonprofit leaders and boards still think fundraising consultants will do their work for them.  

On the inside, fundraising is a function that every organization devotes most of their mental and practical energy to. Fundraising is carried out by employed staff or alternatively, provided by an outside consultant brought in, on a contract basis, and often for a few months as part-time support. 

The consultant typically works with the executive team and the Board, to come up with a plan to bring in more funds to the organization.

Then, this is how it often pans out: Once hired, the nonprofit thinks the fundraiser will come in with a ‘Rolodex’ full of names and people they know. They will rummage through the ‘Rolodex’ and identify some of the people they find to write checks for the organization they have on assignment at the moment. In essence, the nonprofit believes that they will be presented with a load of new contacts that the consultant will bring in. 

So, if we follow that logic, when the assignment is over, the consultant will move to the next gig, take the same Rolodex and deploy it in the same manner. Or?

No. This is not how fundraising consultants work. 

If the consultant just concluded another assignment, it’s very likely he or she is bound by a non-disclosure agreement that prohibits them from approaching old contacts for a new organization, for some time. 

At no time will a consultant roll in their contacts as an expectation, one time after the other, as a fundraising strategy. If there is a match, interests, or other compelling circumstance, of course the consultant will leverage a contact, for reasons that vary as much as the Rolodex contain names and the nonprofit they are on assignment for.

Unfortunately, the illusion of the Rolodex is very prevalent and very powerful. 

In reality, a consultant is there to mobilize the assets of and engage the people involved in the organization itself. All parts of an organization are contributing to fundraising, be it communication, programming, and marketing, with all parts coordinated towards fulfilling the mission and moving the work forward.

With that understanding as a guide, the consultant is there to rally existing funders, yes, help find new funders! But most importantly - and this is where many nonprofits are lacking for a variety of reason – work with the board’s contacts. 

To be clear, the Board’s primary job is to bring in these contacts, which consultants then will ‘work up’ on behalf of the organization. 

In the end, the board is the fundraising asset, vehicle, and support to the executive team. If the board is not aware of its duty, that’s the reason why fundraising fails, and why a fundraising consultant will not succeed.  

The Rolodex was a tool to organize addresses and phone numbers, for easy access. For this purpose, as a metaphor, fundraising is much more complex than stapling a bunch of business cards to note cards or writing in by hand.  

But more on fundraising in another post.